The party is officially committed to multi-tendency democratic socialism. Along with its predecessor, the Socialist Party USA has received varying degrees of support when its candidates have competed against those from the Republican and Democratic parties. The SPUSA advocates for complete independence from the Democratic Party.

Self-described as opposing all forms of oppression, specifically capitalism and authoritarian forms of communism, the party advocates for the creation of a "radical democracy that places people's lives under their own control—a non-racist, classless, feminist, socialist society [... in which] the people own and control the means of production and distribution through democratically-controlled public agencies, cooperatives, or other collective groups [...] full employment is realized for everyone who wants to work [...] workers have the right to form unions freely, and to strike and engage in other forms of job actions [...] production of society is used for the benefit of all humanity, not for the private profit of a few".[3]

Headquartered at the A.J. Muste Institute, the SPUSA's National Office is located at 168 Canal Street in the Chinatown neighborhood of New York City. The party has four chartered state organizations in California, Michigan, Maine and New Jersey as well as twenty eight chartered locals throughout the country.[4]

Renaming the party as SDUSA was meant to be "realistic". The New York Times observed that the Socialist Party had last sponsored Darlington Hoopes as its candidate for President in the 1956 election, who received only 2,121 votes, which were cast in only six states. Because the party no longer sponsored candidates in presidential elections, the name "party" had been "misleading"—"party" had hindered the recruiting of activists who participated in the Democratic Party, according to the majority report. The name "Socialist" was replaced by "Social Democrats" because many American associated the word "socialism" with Soviet communism.[9] The party also wished to distinguish itself from two small Marxist parties.[11]

The convention elected a national committee of 33 members, with 22 seats for the majority caucus, 8 seats for Harrington's coalition caucus, 2 for the Debs caucus and one for the "independent" Samuel H. Friedman,[12] who also had opposed the name change.[9] The convention voted on and adopted proposals for its program by a two-one vote, with the majority caucus winning every vote.[12] On foreign policy, the program called for "firmness toward Communist aggression". However, on the Vietnam War the program opposed "any efforts to bomb Hanoi into submission" and to work for a peace agreement that would protect Communist political cadres in South Vietnam from further military or police reprisals. Harrington's proposal for an immediate cease fire and an immediate withdrawal of U.S. forces was defeated.[12] Harrington complained that after its previous convention, the Socialist Party had endorsed George McGovern with a statement of "constructive criticism" and had not mobilized enough support for McGovern.[11]

The Debs Caucus formed the Union for Democratic Socialism and on May 30, 1973 incorporated the Socialist Party of the United States of America,[16] usually simplified as the Socialist Party USA.[17][third-party source needed] Many activists from the local and state branches of the old Socialist Party, including the party's Wisconsin, California, Illinois, New York City, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. organizations, participated in the reconstitution of the Socialist Party USA.[15][third-party source needed]

After its founding, the party promoted itself as the legitimate heir of the Socialist Party of America.[18] Former Mayor of Milwaukee, Frank Zeidler, was elected the first national chairperson of the party. Zeidler also helped re-organizing the party structure during its early years. He was later nominated as the party's candidacy for the presidential office, with Zeidler believing the party would be able to collaborate with other socialist parties nationwide to spread the message of socialism.[19]

For the 2016 general election, the Socialist Party nominated Mimi Soltysik and Angela Nicole Walker to be its presidential ticket. Other party members ran for office as well, including Jarrod Williams for United States Senate in Nevada, Seth Baker for Maine Senate and Michael Anderson for the Michigan House of Representatives.[30]

According to the party's first chairman, Frank Zeidler, the party had around 500 members nationwide in 1975.[19] The Socialist Party experienced substantial growth during the late 1970s and early to mid-1980s, expanding from only around 600 dues-paying members to around 1,700.[31] In 2008, WMNF claimed that the party had around 3,000 paying members.[32] However, a CommonDreams article suggested that the organization had only 1,000 members in 2010, with party members claiming it to be an increase in the number of members.[33] In May 2011, an article from The New York Times stated that the party has "about 1,000 members nationally".[34] In February 2012, an article from The Root stated that the party had a "membership around 1,500".[35]

Pat Noble, National Co-Chair of the Socialist Party and the party's only member holding elected public office

While some party members favor a more gradual approach to socialism, most others envision a more sweeping or revolutionary transformation of society from capitalist to socialist through the decisive victory of the working class in the class struggle.[36] Some party members also advocate revolutionary nonviolence or pacifism while some consider armed struggle a possible necessity. The party's Statement of Principles rejects equating socialism with a "welfare state" and calls for democratic social revolution from below.[36] The party is strongly committed to principles of socialist feminism and strives to further embody such commitment in its organizational structure. Its national constitution requires gender parity among its national Co-Chairs and Co-Vice Chairs, its National Committee members and alternates and seated members of its branch- and region-elected delegations to the party's biennial national conventions.[36][37][38] The Socialist Party also rejected the new healthcare reform law of 2010 approved by the Obama administration, with Socialist Party National Co-Chair Billy Wharton claiming it to be "a corporate restructuring of the health insurance industry created to protect the profit margins of private insurance companies".[39]

During his campaign, 2008 Socialist Party candidate for PresidentBrian Moore, was very vocal against the idea that Barack Obama was a socialist of any kind.[40] He further commented on the issue, saying it was "misleading of the Republicans" to spread that message.[41] In a later statement about Obama's policies, Wharton called Obama's 2010 State of the Union Address a "public relations ploy" and concluded saying: "The time for slick public relations campaigns has ended—the time for building our grassroots movements is more urgent than ever. The Socialist Party USA stands ready to join in such a political revitalization".[42]

The Party's National Action Committee condemned the Israeli actions during the Gaza War. The party demands that the Federal government of the United States cease providing military aid to Israel as a precondition for peace. The party also seeks to begin an immediate withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan.[43] During the 2008 presidential election, the Socialist Party continued to place a strong emphasis on its full-scale opposition to American wars abroad, with Brian Moore, the presidential candidate, claiming the war was destroying small communities throughout the country. He also criticized what he called "pressure on the local governments" by the Bush administration.[44] The Socialist Party of Connecticut denounced Obama's troop surge in Afghanistan, claiming that the President wasted needed resources the country needed to get pulled out of the financial crisis. After denouncing him, the state affiliate organized a protest in front of the federal building in Hartford.[45]

† In each line the first note refers to candidates and results, the second (if any) to ballot access(the number of state + D.C. ballots, out of 51, on which the Socialist Party candidates appeared)
‡ ^ Endorsed the Citizens Party's candidates in 1984.